OSU coaches talk about the school's record-setting NFL draft .. . and we re-tell the Riley-Tom Brady story

Check out the can-you-believe it story about Mike Riley, the Chargers, and Tom Brady in this entry.

TUESDAY, in soggy southeast ... if it hasn't sunk in yet, consider that only one team in the country - mighty USC (mighty, except for Corvallis trips) - had more players taken in the NFL draft over the weekend.

During the 2000 NFL draft, the Chargers were making their sixth-round picks and coach Mike Riley wanted a Michigan quarterback named Tom Brady. His front office and his scouts told him Brady couldn't play. The rest is history.

While the Trojans had 11, led by QB Mark Sanchez and that fearsome linebacking trio that ran around at Reser like a chicken with its head cut off (zone play guys, zone play!) the Beavers had 7 players taken.

And counting the three players who have signed or will sign free agent contracts - OT Tavita Thompson (Jets), WR Shane Morales (Cardinals) and S Greg Laybourn (New Orleans) - that make a possible 10 NFL guys.

It was a school-record number of draft picks, on a team that was picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Pacific 10 Conference but came within one game of its first Rose Bowl appearance since Jan. 1, 1965.

On a team that didn't have a single player who was a five-star recruit coming out of high school.

On Monday at the Valley Center, you could hear the pride in the coaches' voices as they talked about what happened in the NFL draft.

"We're excited for the kids,'' said OSU head coach Mike Riley.

"We've watched these guys come through the program and watched them grow. ... it's a testatment to the hard work and character of the kids and the work the coaches did in development.''

I couldn't resist throwing this at the coach: with all of those draft picks, how did Oregon State only win nine games?

"I knew that was coming!'' said Riley, with a laugh that echoed around the room.

Current QB Lyle Moevao said having seven players chosen will not only help OSU in future recruiting, "but inspire the guys we have now.''

Offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh was thrilled that Levitre, one of the best linemen he has ever coached, went in the early rounds to a team that traded up to get him.

It was the ninth player Cav has sent to the NFL.

Cav noted that if the slightly undersized Levitre was a few inches taller, he would probably be a very, very rich man.

OSU defensive coordinator Mark Banker, who coached in the NFL with Riley at San Diego, talked about the unpredictability of the draft - and the fact there is "no accountability'' for the GMs, scouts, and TV talking heads who passed judgment on these players in the days leading up to the spectacle at Radio City Music Hall.

Then Banker told the famous story of the Chargers' 2000 draft.

Remember, this was a franchise already haunted by its decision to take QB Ryan Leaf with the No. 2 pick in the 1998 draft.

Riley wanted the Chargers to draft QB Tom Brady of Michigan.

He met with stiff resistance.

"We were in the sixth round, and they asked Mike, 'who do you want?' and Mike kept saying, 'Tom Brady, Tom Brady' " said Banker.

"Our scouts had gone back to review a tape during the fifth round, and when our sixth round pick came up, they told Mike, 'he can't play.'

History shows that Brady was taken in Round 6 (No. 199 overall) by the New England Patriots, and he would turn into a Super Bowl winning QB.

The Chargers had the 184th pick, and they took linebacker Shannon Taylor of Virginia, who started two games in a four-year NFL career.

Four picks after Brady was taken off the board, San Diego selected QB JaJuan Seider from Florida A&M. Seider never played a down in the NFL.

"We take some guy from an alphabet-directional school who threw helicopters for passes,'' said Banker, recalling one of the darker days in Chargers' front offfice annals. "That's who we take (as a sixth-round QB pick) instead of Tom Brady!''

Riley coached in San Diego in 1999, 2000, and 2001, with Banker on his staff.

Given the hit and miss nature of the evaluations and the personal opinion (right or wrong) that can lead to homerun picks or catastrophic gaffes, nothing surprises Banker where the NFL draft is concerned.

He was not surprised that OSU came up big last weekend.

Banker's reaction to the Beavers having 7 players chosen?

Pride, and the knowledge that OSU is being noticed at the highest level for its player development.

"That's the big thing to me, that other people - the NFL, scouts, coaches, management - are recognizing players from Oregon State are people who can contribute to their organizations.''

On a smaller scale, said Banker, it felt good to see players like Slade Norris and Keenan Lewis get rewarded for outstanding careers even if they were dissed by the end-of-season Pac-10 all-conference selections.

The coaches still shake their heads over the fact Norris, Lewis, Afalava, and DT Stephen Paea were left off the first two teams and relegated to honorable mention.

"Slade Norris,'' said Banker, "was a FIRST TEAM all-Pac 10 defensive end. ... and Stephen Paea? I think he was a little better than honorable mention. ... let's ask (Cal center) Alex Mack and (UO center) Max Unger what they think. They had to go up against the guy. I mean, Paea put Mack on his back three times.''

Riley said, "I appreciate the Raiders because they must have watched the film. Slade was one of the most productive defensive ends in the Pac-10 for two straight years so he deserves exactly what he got.''

It was also laughable to the OSU guys that Keenan Lewis, who was highly-regarded by NFL scouts, couldn't make it on first or second team as a CB (Hughes made second team) but was good enough to be chosen by the defending Super Bowl champs.

Banker said he hopes Oregon State's breakthrough draft convinces some teams that there is life beyond USC in the Pac-10.

"Teams have a certain rectangle everyone has to fit in,'' said Banker. "You have to come from a certain University.''

Needless to say, none of the seven players drafted by NFL teams were blue-chip recruits.

"I don't know how may 'stars' they had, but I don't think anybody was recruited by USC or Ohio State, you know?'' said Banker with a chuckle.

Said Riley, "not a one of them (was a five-star), and they've each got their own story of hard work and perserverance. And obviously, they had some talent to start with. It was a special group that left its mark on OSU football.''